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Washout at New Hampstead High School in west Chatham County could impact start date

District officials expect so many students to show up for the first day of school at the new education sales-tax-funded New Hampstead High School that they pulled $185,000 out of the rainy day coffers to pay for portable classrooms.

But heavy rain and runoff from the school construction site have washed away the soil that was supposed to support the building pad for the temporary 10-classroom structure.

No certificate of occupancy for the structure will be granted until they are able to shore things up.

The main school building is complete, but for it to be cleared for move-in, crews must finish sidewalks, landscaping, a fire lane and sight lighting. School officials are working with contractors and praying for a break in the clouds so they can correct problems, finish work and get New Hampstead High School open without a glitch when the school year begins Aug. 27.

“It’s down to the wire, but we think we can make it,” said Don Little, the district’s contracted project manager.

Portable pickle

New Hampstead’s sleek, high-tech, eco-friendly main school building was built to serve 800 students from the westernmost point of Chatham County. Officials, based on experience, believe it will draw larger than anticipated crowds.

Two years ago, when the new ESPLOST-funded Godley Station K-8 school opened in west Chatham County 1,500 students showed up on opening day — about 400 more than they expected and 300 more than they could accommodate. Thepromise of a fresh start in a new suburban neighborhood school drew an unanticipated glut of students from private schools and specialty programs.

Many families who move to the burgeoning west Chatham suburbs are seeking refuge from Savannah’s inner-city crime and poverty issues. But until the new ESPLOST-funded schools were built, many suburban neighborhood students were assigned to large schools with large populations of poor and inner-city students.

Now, New Hampstead needs a third wing to expand its capacity to 1,200 to accommodate the crowds of students who will likely want access. But the district doesn’t have the money for that. Funds for the third wing will be generated from education sales tax collections over the next five years. In the meantime they’re using portables.

They could have created a smaller attendance zone for New Hampstead to eliminate the need for so much temporary space, but if they had done so, officials say they would have to redraw the lines again when the third wing is constructed, causing a second disruptive shifting of students.

And no one anticipated this much rain.

“Shouldn’t you have planned for rain?” school board member Shawn Kachmar grilled the project managers during a facilities meeting Wednesday. “What’s your contingency?”

Plan B

Because even more rainy weather is expected in the coming days, Superintendent Thomas Lockamy has prepared for best- and worst-case scenarios.

In the best case, the rain will hold up, the site will dry out and all of the work will be done in time for the Aug. 27 opening.

If the 10-classroom modular building is not ready in time, Lockamy said they could make room in the main campus cafeteria and media center.

If neither building is ready, he said they could delay the opening of New Hampstead until after Labor Day, then add 10 minutes on to the school day until they make up the missed time or they could temporarily house the students at a vacant school site.